The New Gate

“Let’s be careful, everyone.”

With those words, Kluck left with Elamella, and Shin walked towards the main street.

Filma and Milt hadn’t returned yet.

Unlike the blacksmithing competition, the number of participants in the battle festival was much higher, so it seemed that the registration was taking a long time. Even though it was almost time for the registration deadline, there was a constant stream of people climbing the stairs to the arena.

Since he was here, Shin thought he might as well walk alone for a change, and moved his feet. Thanks to the map, he didn’t get lost, so he was able to go wherever his mind took him.

“Hmm? That’s…”

A little way off the main road. At a stall selling weapons, which were not uncommon in Kurikara at this time of year, Shin found something that caught his eye.

The owner seemed to be a blacksmith. He was in his forties, and his right arm was a little thicker. This was common among blacksmiths, but also in professions that put a lot of strain on one arm. Looking at his strength, you could tell the owner was still active.

He must have his own creations on display. There were many weapons that could be used with one hand, such as broadswords, short daggers, and hand axes.

“Can I take a look?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Shin held the broadsword in his hand and stared intently at the blade. He then concentrated, trying to see through the dull glow.

“Did you make this?”

“Yes, it’s not exactly a masterpiece, but I can guarantee that it’s better quality than mass-produced weapons.”

The owner’s expression was clear. Shin glanced at the other weapons. In terms of grade, they were Normal, close to Rare. Only the broadsword was just barely Rare-grade.

“What are they made of?”

“It’s about seven parts iron and three parts magic steel. You can get good quality iron in Kurikara that you can’t get in other towns. And no weird stuff mixed in. I don’t mind if you appraise it. What do you want to do?”

“I’ll take it…”

Shin had to return the broadsword and pay for it before receiving it again. It seemed to have a function that prevented it from being stolen, and the stall owner removed that function.

Leaving the street, Shin muttered as he sat on the edge of the fountain in the square.

“It doesn’t have a shape, but it’s cursed.”

He looked at the blade again, briefly removed from its sheath, but the result was the same.

It didn’t show up clearly in 【Analyze】.

However, Shin could tell. The sinister, ominous presence of a cursed weapon. There was definitely a glimpse of it.

“But it doesn’t feel like that person is doing it on purpose.”

Although it was a low grade, it was carefully made, and the blade was perfectly smooth all the way to the tip. It didn’t seem like the work of someone who would use shady methods.

It wouldn’t be good to put it in his Item Box here, so he walked with the broadsword in his left hand. Once he noticed it, he started to feel something was off about the other things, which was strange.

“What’s going on? There are similar things everywhere.”

Weapons such as swords and spears, armor and gauntlets, accessories and even consumable items. There were minute but definite cursed signs mixed in that one wouldn’t notice if they weren’t aware of them.

One wouldn’t notice even if they used it; that was the magnitude of this situation. But with so many of them, Shin couldn’t help but feel that someone was planning something.

“(Schnee, where are you now?)”

Shin informed Schnee through 【Mind Chat】 that he wanted to meet up. He also wanted to ask Tiera and Yuzuha for their opinions.

Shin reunited with Schnee and the other members of the shopping group and immediately explained the situation and asked to see some of the armaments and items they were buying.

“I have an unpleasant feeling, but I don’t know if it’s a curse or not.”

“I’m not sure if it would have any effect on children.”

Tiera’s and Yuzuha’s answers were hard to describe.

Sety tilted her head.

“I don’t really know.”

“Tiera and Yuzuha are sensitive to that kind of presence. I only noticed it because it was a weapon.”

Shin added that he wouldn’t have noticed it if it wasn’t an area he was familiar with.

“I think it’s because Shin was holding it, but the curse is already fading.”

“What? I didn’t do anything.”

Shin was surprised by Tiera’s words, and Yuzuha added.

“It doesn’t have to be Shin, if you’re a person who has reached a certain level, it will disappear just by holding it.”

The only people who were affected are low-level ordinary people or people who were physically or mentally weak.

“If I knew how strong the original curse was, I might have felt it a little more clearly.”

“From what I saw, they were all on the verge of becoming a curse. To be honest, I don’t know if they were all curses of the same strength. It’s not like it was easy to see it as a stats number.”

In Shin’s case, he could tell if it was a weapon, but with other items, his senses became a little vague. He didn’t have the same senses as Tiera and Yuzuha.

“Do you feel anything, Schnee?”

“If I concentrate, I can sense an unpleasant sensation, but if I don’t, I’ll miss it. There wasn’t anything that particularly caught my attention on the way here.”

As he told Sety, if Shin hadn’t happened to notice the broadsword, he wouldn’t have noticed anything else either. It was such a trivial and insignificant discomfort.

“Tiera, did you feel anything strange on the way here?”

“There were too many people for me. It’s so different from any other city I’ve ever seen.”

On every side, there were people, people, and people. Shin was also surprised by the number of people, and Tiera seemed to have been overwhelmed by the crowds. Apparently, she was just taking a break when Shin contacted them.

“A lot of people were calling out to us, and Sety used her illusion magic to make it harder for us to attract attention, so it was a little easier.”

No matter how well they disguised themselves, if Schnee and Tiera were together, they would attract attention sooner or later. Shin felt a little regretful that he or Shibaid should have accompanied them.

Now if Yuzuha had been in human form, it would have been even worse. Perhaps because she knew this, she was now in fox cub mode.

The illusion that Sety had cast was weak, and if an average person didn’t speak to them, they would know that the girls were there, but would not be able to properly recognize their faces or body shapes.

In terms of avoiding people, there was Kagerou, but if he grew big enough for people to avoid them, that could become a problem in itself, and if he were too small, they would not be intimidating enough.

It seemed that there were also people who would purposely set up feuds with monster partners and demand money from the caretaker, so it was a wise decision not to show the Kagerou.

“Yuzuha, how about you?”

Since Tiera was in no condition to help, Shin tried talking to Yuzuha. However, on the contrary, it seemed that Yuzuha thought there was no end to the things she could sense because there were too many things she could sense.

“What Shin had found was the remains of a curse. It was like a faint residue left behind. There are malicious items of that level all over the place, ” Yuzuha said in a disgusted tone.

Items meant to deceive someone, items meant to trap someone. They all have a similar vibe to them, she added.

“Humans are stupid.”

Shin patted Yuzuha, who looked a little tired.

It bothered him, but he didn’t want to force her to investigate.

“There are people who think bad things, even without things like miasma demons and curses. For now, let’s wait and see. It’s not like we can do anything. It’s better than not knowing, at least.”

It wasn’t certain that trouble would occur.

However, as Yuzuha said, not all people were good people.

𑁋 

Afterwards, to change their mood, they all went out to eat. Occasionally, some men broke through Sety’s illusions and tried to pick them up, but when Shin smiled intimidatingly at them, they would run away.

“I guess it’s not that effective against adventurers with a certain level of skill.”

“If you use too much illusion, it’s a problem in itself. People who know will see your actions as very suspicious.”

“It’s better than nothing. I’ll deal with those kinds of people.”

Intimidate only certain people. This was a technique he learned from Shibaid. Shin had also taught himself, but he asked Shibaid to teach him so he could do it more precisely.

“Then, let’s make people avoid us.”

Schnee then wrapped his arm around Shin’s and leaned in close.

The strange thing about this was that, despite the illusion, the gaze that had been directed at Schnee was now directed at Shin.

But the feelings from the gaze have changed from longing and euphoria to jealousy and murderous intent.

“I see, it makes it hard for them to talk to us. Well, then, I’ll do it too.”

Tiera, who had realized the reason for Schnee’s actions, also wrapped her arm around Shin a little hesitantly. Her cheeks were a little red, perhaps due to embarrassment.

Shin felt the murderous intent in the gazes from those around him increase.

“There’s no need to do this, right Tiera?”

“That would make it seem like I’m the only one without a partner. Besides, this is… you know. It’s just a pretense, so it’s fine. Let’s make them think it’s just a waste of time to pick us up.”

Considering the number of men trying to pick up girls earlier, it was understandable.

Aside from that, Shin was afraid of Schnee’s reaction.

But Schnee didn’t seem to mind.

“This is good enough”…such words were conveyed through her upturned gaze.

“Hm? Wait a minute. What about Sety?”

Shin had been preparing himself for Sety at this rate, but before he knew it, he had lost sight of her. He checked the map and found that she was already too far away to call out to.

“She smiled and saluted, then cast an illusion on herself and left.”

“You’re definitely looking at me from afar and enjoying it!”

Shin pictured Sety’s face with her tongue out, laughing.

Yuzuha was still in fox cub mode on his shoulder, and Kagerou was in Tiera’s shadow. At this point, there was no choice but to give up, so Shin decided to continue.

He had flowers in both hands. He walked around, unconcerned, and strangely enough, he gradually stopped worrying about the gazes of those around him.

Thinking back, he often received similar stares.

He’d gotten used to the gazes. But that was only if he was just walking.

“Hey, are you really doing this? There are people around us.”

The reason Shin was flustered was because of the small wooden spoon Schnee held out to him. On top of it was a milky-white icy treat, or ice cream, as it was called. Schnee happened to find it in a stall and bought two portions, one for herself and one for Tiera. Just as Shin was thinking, “Huh, where’s my share…?”, this happened.

“Shin can’t use both hands, so this is only natural.”

“I’ll take this since you lend me an arm.”

The spoon was held out in front of Shin’s mouth, and what he was doing was basically “Aahh.”

Tiera, incidentally, held out a spoon as well, and the men who saw this looked at him with a wave of murderous intent and for some reason looked at her with respect.

“This is more tense than fighting a monster.”

The two’s “Aahh” didn’t stop in one go, and in the end, Shin ate one portion of the ice cream, and Schnee and Tiera each ate one portion.

Since they had been the center of attention to begin with, the “Aah” in public eyes took a toll on Shin’s spirit.

And it didn’t end with just this one time.

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